Same Chaos, Different Heroes
by MidnightR3m1x
Summary: Tony was happy with his life, as taxing as it was. He wouldn't have had it any other way; but when a bullet wound and a mysterious dimensional rift force him and two others to Equestria, how will how will he cope? Halo, Assassin's Creed, MLP cross over. M for violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Tony White didn't have many friends. Just one more reason to hate school, in his mind. He was walking through the hall towards the back exit, routine for him after school. He exited, feeling refreshed immediately as the sun beat down on him and the breeze caught in his hair.

Tony turned and jogged past the football fields, past the soccer fields, and across the empty lot behind the school, just looking to get his blood moving before work. This was Tony's life in his small city, school in the mornings, then a quick jog before work.

Tony's run led him to an older building that had seen better days, windows grimy and a sad looking door, hanging loosely on its hinges. Checking nobody was around, he went inside. The only thing in the building appeared to be an old desk. But Tony knew better. Pulling open one of the drawers, he pulled out a short, wooden rod. Walking over to the back wall, he located a small hole in the wood, and inserted the stick. He then pulled down with all his strength, and the wall just to his left slid sideways to reveal a hidden stairway.

It went down into a small basement, the walls and floor bare concrete. The far wall was, however, partially covered in a rack, adorning several weapons: a dagger, a short row of throwing knives, a sword, a tomahawk, a bow, arrows, a small cross bow, five bolts for it, and two bracers. In the center of the room was a stand with a mannequin covered in black robes with a red interior and an assortment of light, leather armor underneath with a few thicker pieces across his chest and shoulders, mostly covered by more black fabric to act as camouflage at night.

Tony smiled; it was time to suit up. The hooded cloak went on first, the leather armor followed, covering him and giving decent protection against knives and switch blades. The particularly thick pieces followed, lightly protecting his shoulders and the organs behind his ribcage, while leaving his stomach exposed to keep his mobility at a maximum. The multiple sheaths for his choice weapons would go on next, followed by the weapons themselves. When he had finished, Tony looked like someone out of a centuries old European city. His armor and weapon straps held the cloak tight against his body, allowing only the split back of the cape to move. His pointed hood came over his head, and hid his face in shadow; he was ready for whatever the night would throw at him.

Later, crouched on a rooftop overlooking the city, Tony smiled; the night air was perfect, cool and sweet, carrying the sounds of the small city up to him. His smile suddenly disappeared; too bad someone had to die that night.

That was why he was on the roof, dressed in the traditional but bad-ass looking robes of the Creed. This was his job, and life. Endless training; in blade work, hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, stealth and movement.

He looked for tonight's target, a middle-aged man who was of negative interest to the Creed, having knowingly antagonized them. Tony's job was to remove him from the picture entirely.

Tony spotted his target. The man dressed in a disheveled black suit, tie askew and a bottle of strong whiskey in one hand, the other wrapped around one of his friends for support. Tony hated alcohol, it made people act like idiots and threw off their judgment, this would be too easy.

The drunk and staggering man fell face first onto the asphalt and stayed there, laughing the whole time just as Tony's silent feet touched the ground. His black robes keeping him concealed and nearly invisible in the shadow he crouched in. His target tried and failed to get up several times before his equally drunk friends hoisted him to his feet and they all moved on. Tony followed close behind, looking for a good ambush spot, smiling when he realized where the party was headed. One of the group walked into a corner as his body tried to reject the whiskey. He threw up while his friends laughed at him and walked on, expecting him to follow. He would have, had Tony not intercepted him. A brief flash of black and red robes was all the warning the poor, unsuspecting man got before a vicious strike to the jaw knocked him out, cold.

Three left, including the man of interest. They all turned a corner, down a stereotypically dark alley. Tony was waiting.

They never knew what hit them. Tony jumped, and with a quick movement of his hand, a blade extended from the bracer wrapped around his wrist. Tony knew they would be staggering all over the place, which is why he had jumped to the left, the side the drunkard was favoring. The man fell over again, and Tony adjusted in the air, turning to land sideways and angling down slightly. Having jumped off his left foot his right was the front most of his limbs, meaning it connected with the back of the laughing fools head trying to hoist the fallen one off the ground. The blade connected next, burying itself in his targets heart, stunning him.

Tony let his head droop as the man drew his last, shaky breath, and died; "Resquiate en Pace" Tony whispered solemnly, 'May you rest in peace' in Latin, traditional and somewhat fitting for the solemn situations it was meant for.

Tony stood to face the last member of the group, who had his head cocked and a hostile look on his face, "You killed Darin. I'll kill you." He said in a dark, somewhat sinister voice as he pulled out a gun.

Tony tensed, his eyes widening slightly, though the new threat couldn't see his shadowed face; a gun. He hoped this guy had drunk himself nearly unconscious earlier, because it would be hard to miss him at nearly point blank range.

A shot was fired. Tony dropped, spun and dove for a small crate, sailing over it, and taking stock of the situation. The shot had missed, but not by much, the guy still had fairly good aim. He was pinned, with no support in the area; the only cover other than the flimsy wooden crate he was currently using was ten yards away. Straight up. The gun went off again, the round smashing through the thin wood inches from his head. More than one man would have to die tonight, it seemed. Tony pulled a knife from a sheath under his arm, concealed by his robe when he wasn't moving. He gripped the blade loosely for a moment, and jumped straight up.

Time seemed to slow, Tony watched as the man brought the gun up, and his knife left his hand. The gun went off twice, muzzle flash lighting up the alley and glinting off the still moving blade as it rapidly approached its target. Tony watched with satisfaction as the weapon struck and traveled through its targeted spot, the man's sternum.

Time returned to normal for Tony as he retrieved his knife, and stabbed the man again, ending his suffering and once again uttering the words in Latin.

He sheathed his weapon, unhappy at the fact that further bloodshed couldn't have been avoided, and ran straight at the crate he had been hiding behind not fifteen seconds before. He jumped off and grabbed a fire escape, then jumped for a loose brick, pulling it out of place and dropping it, then using the void he had created as a hand hold to climb higher. When he reached the roof, he noticed a warm spot on his side. He touched it, and his fingers were dark and shiny when he looked at them.

Tony quickly pulled the fabric back, and saw what he considered far too much blood saturating his clothes. He adjusted his weapons, and pulled the cloak material away from his bleeding side. He began bandaging it quickly; beginning to shake and feel pain shoot through him every time he turned his body the slightest inch. As the adrenalin left his system, he felt the extent of his injury. He'd been shot, only one round had hit him and it had passed clean through, but it hurt badly.

Tony had never been shot before, only cut and scraped during sword and knife training, but it was something he was prepared to deal with. He wrapped the bandage tight over the wound before covering it with his weapons and cloak again. He knew he had lost a lot of blood; he was shaking, and felt far too cold for something not to be wrong.

He started running, now heavily favoring his uninjured right side. Every step on his left leg sent agony coursing through him and he winced with every step. He had to make it back, had to find a fellow assassin before he passed out or jumped to his death, his coordination now off and reflexes startlingly slower than normal. He remembered running and jumping over and alley, the distance seemed to suddenly double, then triple, and his momentum exhausted itself. Tony knew he was falling and he knew he was a long way up, but the familiar sense of weightlessness that came with a long fall never overtook him. He didn't feel himself land, didn't feel the grass that suddenly covered the ground, or the branches fall on him from above as he lay under the tree he had just fallen through. His last coherent thought involved something about how the city had suddenly become a park and how this made no sense at all, but it was all lost as he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam's internal clock woke him up at exactly five in the morning. He didn't stir, just opened his eyes and sat up. His room was the same way it always was, empty, save for the stand with his armor on it, and the cabinet on the far wall. He looked around, thinking for a moment how nice it would be to have a window, then stood and dressed himself. He understood that not every room in a battle cruiser could have one; it was just a bit of wistful thinking on his part.

Sam started his daily routine, jumping up to a bar set in the ceiling and starting his first set of pull-ups. He always did this when he wasn't in the field, exercise, then a few sessions in a combat simulator, then some target practice. At that point he would either walk aimlessly about the ship, or find something on battle strategy to read.

Today however, was different. He had just finished his usual fifteen mile run and was on his way to the training floor for his combat practice, when the intercom crackled to life. "Lieutenant Sam, 172, please report to Captain Thomas' office immediately. Sam 172, the Captain needs you to report to his office ASAP." Said a gravelly male voice before the intercom clicked off.

Sam's eyebrows rose slightly as he paused, then turned in the other direction and headed towards his superior's office. He wasn't close, having been on the other end of the ship for his planned day, so he jogged most of the way, ignoring the whispered comments and sparse greetings that were made as he passed other Marines.

He made it to the requested meeting place and knocked three quick raps on the doorframe. The same deep voice from the intercom earlier answered, "Enter." Sam walked in. The room was large, as rooms go on a battle cruiser. A large screen took up one wall, while a desk took up the one opposite. "Thank you for getting here so quickly, Lieutenant, the Captain is still on his way here from the Bridge, make yourself comfortable." This came from the ten-inch, blue, holographic figure of a muscular man in combat fatigues and a T-shirt reading 'MARINES' across the back.

Sam nodded to the hologram, as he made his way to the wall opposite the door he had entered through. Three windows looked out into the endless beauty of space. The battle cruiser was currently en route to supply materials to Harvest, a planet recently colonized by humanity. They were still several weeks out, but had just made preparations to enter slip space to cut that time down to a few days.

Sam stared into the abyss of space, coming to parade rest; feet shoulder length apart, hands clasped behind his back. He stood there, admiring the view for a full three minutes. He gave no outward indication, but he was quietly getting irritated that the captain had requested him and not been ready for him. He heard the door open behind him.

He span around and came to attention, "Captain Thomas, sir!" He said quickly, delivering a crisp salute.

"At ease, Lieutenant, my apologies for my tardiness, I had some trouble with a few marines trying to start a fight." He captain stated in a young-sounding, friendly voice, though he also managed to sound mildly irritated.

"Not at all, sir."

"Yes, well, it won't happen again if they want to stay on board. How are you keeping up aboard the Close?"

"The Battle's Close is treating me well, sir." Sam quickly replied, somewhat disliking the unnecessary conversation.

"Glad to hear it. Now, on to business. You are aware that we will be entering slip space at 1800 hours, correct?"

"I am, sir" Sam was thankful to be moving on towards what he hoped were his new orders.

"Good. You, along with the rest of the crew will be put into Cryo-sleep for the trip; however, you will not be staying for the duration of it."

"Sir?"

"Sam, I am going to have Duncan wake you up, early. You are going to be in the Drop-Pod bay by 0550 in two days, and you will have been launched by 0600. You, lieutenant are not going to Harvest. You are going to be launched onto Harmony as we pass."

"Might I ask what exactly I will be doing, sir?"

"Yes, indeed." The Captain said, pausing for a moment. "Duncan, would you care to explain?"

"I will do, sir. Sam, your skills as a Spartan are going to be put to use. We are dropping you on Harmony at the request of ONI. They want your help delivering a high-interest package of unknown origin, and heavily classified files say that it may be Forerunner, but that's all I can tell you for sure. It will be in a lead box, which will be inside a padded and heavily armored transport container to protect either from damage."

"With all due respect sir, wouldn't a Pelican make this easier, safer and faster?"

"The file shows that the aircraft engines malfunction for an unknown reason when the package is within a certain distance, once it is moved back away, performance reforms to normal. You and a small squad of Marines will escort the Package approximately 200 kilometers on foot to a lab for study; you are to protect it from damage. Another possible threat to this operation is the Insurrectionist activity that has been confirmed on the planet. Watch for rebels, and shoot to kill, however, only do so if attacked first. Understood?"

Sam was happy to finally have something to do, particularly if it involved getting off the ship, "Yes sir!"

"Good, be ready to drop at 0600. It was a pleasure having you aboard, Sam." The captain said, as he walked around the desk to stand in front of the soldier. He looked tiny compared to the nearly seven and a half foot tall super soldier.

"The pleasure was mine, sir" Sam said quickly.

"Dismissed" the Captain said with a nod.

The Spartan delivered another salute before leaving to prepare his few possessions for the drop to Harmony.

SPARTAN S-172

BATTLE'S CLOSE-IN SLIP SPACE

0530 HOURS

Sam pulled the one of his last pieces of armor on, and then turned to his helmet. He was covered head to toe in the signature MJOLNIR body armor of a Spartan super soldier. He wore the Mark V, not the most recent armor model available, but it was reliable and could take a serious beating. He picked up the helmet, staring into the visor to see the distorted reflection of his face. All his other belongings were in pouches in his armor, his cookware and a few small, sentimental pieces hidden in and underneath the titanium plates.

Sam stared into the visor a moment longer, and then pulled the helmet on. Immediately, the suit began to run a diagnostic. All systems came back green, and the suit sealed itself. His HUD gave him the familiar motion tracker display in the bottom, right hand corner.

Sam smiled before he left his small room for the last time, grateful to be on his way back to real gravity and legitimate air. He ran to the Drop pod bay, the hydrostatic gel in his suits' hydraulic system giving the half ton of man and machine some boosted strength and speed. The ships AI, Duncan, greeted him at his destination, "Lieutenant, early as always." He said in his deep voice.

"Duncan." Sam replied with a nod. He put his gear into the pod that had been selected for him, and started to get in, but was stopped by Duncan.

"Not yet Lieutenant."

Sam turned around, head cocking to one side, "Sir?"

"Here, take this," the AI said simply as a small holodisc was ejected from the panel that Duncan stood on.

Sam pulled the disc out of its slot and examined it for a moment before inserting it into the slot in the back of his helmet. His HUD flickered for a moment, and a new window opened, showing a young woman in jeans and a hoodie.

"Hello," she said with a smile, "I am the UNSC AI construct: Catherine."

Sam gave a small smile of his own, "Hello, Catherine. I am Spartan S-172, Lieutenant of the UNSC Marine Corps."

She smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Sam. I will be accompanying you starting now and continuing for duration of my life."

"Or mine," Sam said grimly, "whichever comes first."

She cocked her head, "I suppose so."

Duncan cut in at this point, "You'll be fine, Spartan. You are a super soldier wearing some of the most advanced in high-tech armor the UNSC has to offer."

Sam nodded, "Yes, sir, but we all know it'll happen sooner or later."

Duncan gave him a look, "Be that as it may, that day is not today. Speaking of death, we have approximately ninety seconds until launch, I suggest you strap in."

Sam complied, ignoring the attempt at humor and strapping himself into the pod in just under a minuet. He looked up and saluted to Duncan, who gave him a crisp salute back. "Until next time Lieutenant."

"Until next time." The door closed and Sam took a deep, calming breath. Launching into orbit was risky and incredibly dangerous; doing so in Slip space was even more so. After a brief moment of silence, the pod launched. Sam watched the ship for as long as he could, taking in the sheer size of the thing, before calmly drifting off to sleep, while Catherine monitored the descent and kept them on course. It was going to be a long trip.

* * *

Sam woke to Catherine calling his name. "Sam, get up! We're entering the atmosphere! Come on, look sharp soldier!" Sam shook himself awake, and looked around, everything seemed to be normal. He ran a final system check on his armor, and waited for reentry.

He didn't have to wait long. He was soon buffeted by a small bought of deceleration as his pod hit the outer atmosphere and suffered a bit of wind resistance. Catherine began a timer counting down to impact and tracked their descent. When they reached roughly eight thousand meters, the chute deployed; part of it broke away, quickly followed by the rest of the device. Alarms went off in Sam's suit as the backup chute deployed, but it wasn't nearly enough to slow them down. Digging his own grave, as the ODST's called it.

"The backup chute is tearing itself apart, firing brake rockets!" Catherine yelled, sounding concerned.

Sam's head was whipped forward as the pod decelerated even more rapidly than before, the rockets doing their job perfectly. They were still a hundred meters up when the brake rockets went out, and they might have sped up again if they'd had any time. They hit the ground going 36 meters per second; Sam was instantly knocked unconscious, Catherine's frantic voice fading into nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony opened his eyes slowly, forcing his mind to wakefulness. His body responded sluggishly, still heavy with unconsciousness. When he finally got himself propped up against a tree, he began to take in his surroundings.

He was in a small clearing, edged with tall, thick oaks. The day was bright and nature was reigning in all her glory. Not a single thing seemed to be wrong, except that Tony was totally lost, and filthy. He thought back to the night before, trying to figure out what had happened. He had been shot, the pain in his side confirmed that, but after his frantic bandaging of the wound his memory got foggy. Tony's brow creased in frustration as he though. He had missed a jump, and must have fallen nearly thirty feet, but how had he gotten to the middle of nowhere with his injury?

Tony gave up, deciding that if it came to him he would embrace it, but until then he had to face the problems at hand.

Tony looked down at his side as he removed the tight cloth around it. The wound had stopped bleeding, but it still looked nasty. Dried blood caked the bandages and skin where he'd been hurt. 'It seems I need to clean myself up' Tony thought to himself. He looked around for any sign of water. When he found none, he closed his eyes and listened. There was a large group of birds hidden in the trees in front of him, judging by the multitude and diversity of the chirps and caws. Maybe over a spring? That would explain their gathering there. If not, at least he could get some food.

Tony made an attempt to stand, keeping his weight in his right side and leaning heavily on the tree behind him. He succeeded, and took a tentative step forward. He gasped and fell onto his stomach. His left leg wouldn't take any weight at all, pain shooting through his side when he tried it. It took him ten minutes to get back on his feet, and another five to realize something was wrong.

Every living creature in the clearing and surrounding forest had gone dead silent. Tony knew this meant a threat, and he needed to hide. He looked at the tree he was leaning on. There was a small knot in the wood an arm length above him. He started to climb, slowly, gently, with his injured leg hanging uselessly under him.

He finally reached a fork in the trunk. He pulled himself into it, and positioned his useless leg so that it wouldn't fall or move; tucked up against his body. His right hand grabbed a thick branch above his head, keeping him upright and still. He settled in for the possible threat to pass or make itself known.

He didn't have to wait long. A huge creature that looked like a lion with a scorpion tail and comically tiny wings lumbered through the clearing, stopping suddenly and sniffing the air. It growled and put its face to the ground. Tony could hear it sniffing the grass, trying to find the source of a new smell.

It found him. The grass below his tree was beaten down and his blood saturated some of it. The massive thing below him looked up, growling loudly.

Tony didn't move, hoping it would shut up and leave. It never did, instead, it put its front paws on the trunk of the tree and bounced against it, rocking the entire thing. Tony held on fairly easily, but his pursuer became more and more frustrated. It roared, rearing its ugly head and slammed into the tree.

Tony was caught slightly off balance as he tried to adjust in the tree, and his grip loosened. He tried to get his grip back, but the branches shook again, loosening his grasp even more. In a desperate move to stay out of reach, Tony stretched himself out to ensure an easier time staying where he was. His desperate attempt at survival became a fatal mistake. His wounded side practically shot him off of his perch when it was overextended. Tony fell fifteen feet to the ground.

He hit the ground and bounced, tensing and crying out. The massive furry death machine came back at him, claws swiping. Tony, in his hindered state, was struck across the face. Three bloody lines appeared on his cheek, starting behind his eye, just under his temple, and traveling down to his jawline. He fell back, teeth missing him by mere inches, its tail following and impacting; his armor took the brunt of the blow, leaving nothing more than a bruise on his chest. Another swipe of claws as Tony tried to turn around, and he was again falling; forward this time, as eight claws made contact and raked the skin down his back.

On the ground, Tony turned to face his death. The hideous monster roared again in victory, pushing him back down with a mighty paw. Tony's arms were pinned, and his legs kicked uselessly under the creature. It lowered its head, saliva dripping from its teeth, just as a loud shout was heard from behind them.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!"

The massive victor turned its head as something with a high but forceful voice got right up in its face, "You big bully! Why would you ever try to hurt an innocent creature like this? Shame on you! Go think about what you did and what a better choice might have been. Don't give me that look; get going before I get REALLY angry!"

The huge beast hesitated only a second before whimpering and running off with its tail between its legs. The edges of Tony's vision started to go dark as a pink and yellow mass entered his blurry field of vision. Its voice sounded a long way off, the colors bled together, and Tony fell unconscious for the second time in less than two hours.

* * *

Tony jerked awake; his injuries erupting in pain and throwing him back down on his bed. Wait...bed? How he had gotten here, Tony had no idea, but he was grateful to whoever had brought him. He closed his eyes for a few short seconds before he heard a door open. Tony tried to sit up, but dropped with another grunt.

"Oh, don't move, you'll only hurt yourself worse!" It was a high pitched, quiet voice that sounded very upset.

Tony turned his head and found... A horse? It had the same basic structure, but its face was completely different. A tiny snout and mouth, huge eyes, and equally huge ears. Where was the speaker? And why did they have a small, yellow, adorably malformed horse in their house?

The horse, probably still only a pony judging by its size, spread a pair of WINGS, and fluttered over to him. Tony stared as it reached for him, pulling away his bloody clothes and disappearing behind a wall of pink hair.

It looked back to him and said, "You hurt yourself pretty badly, you poor thing. And then that big, mean Manticore tried to eat you, didn't he?"

Tony nodded, dumbly, the pony continued, "Well, no pony can hurt you anymore, okay? You just stay put and I'll help you get better."

Tony found his voice, "I-You-How di- what are you?"

The tiny thing jumped, "Oh, I didn't know you could talk! I'm a Pegasus pony. My name is Fluttershy, what are you? I mean, if it's not too much to ask."

Tony blinked rapidly, "I'm, uh, a human?"

"A human? What's your name?"

The Assassin hesitated for a moment, "My name is Tony."

Fluttershy smiled, "Okay Tony, I need to ask you how you got hurt if I'm going to help you."

Tony gently touched his side, "I was shot."

She looked very sad, "Oh, no. What did they get you with?"

"Um, a bullet?" What else would you put in a gun?

"A what?" Fluttershy was visibly confused.

"A bullet. You know, a high speed piece of metal."

His caretaker looked even more worried than before, "Oh, no. Was it rusty at all?"

Tony shook his head, iron bullets weren't produced. Even then, rusty bullets wouldn't fly, "No, it wasn't."

"Good to hear." She gave a shy smile, "Tony, I'm going to put some medicine on the wound that's going to make it hurt, but it will make you better faster, okay? I'll make it as fast as I can, but you need to hold still."

Tony nodded, he knew the routine, "Okay, but be gentle."

"I will be." And with a short pause to get what she needed, she gently patted a medicine onto the entry and exit points of the injury. It was fairly straightforward, and Tony didn't even flinch.

"There you go, that will be all better in a few days." She spoke as if he were a child, who he still legally was, he guessed. After covering his side, Tony sat up, propping himself against the headboard. He quickly found that the room and bed he occupied were far too small for him and that he was still in his bloody outfit, now basically rags.

Tony's back hurt, he remembered being scratched at least twice there, and knew that it would probably scar. After attempting to touch a sore spot on his face, Tony also found that he had a square of gauze taped across his temple and jaw. He let his hand drop back to his lap and sat, silent, until his caretaker spoke again.

"Tony? Um, would it maybe be okay if I had one of my friends come over? She knows lots about almost everything and loves learning about new things. I think she might know how to help you better than I do, so, if it's okay with you..." She trailed off. Tony pulled his head up, looking at the pegasus before him. She started to shrink under his gaze, and he realized he had been glaring at her. He shook his head briefly and nodded, "Yes, that would be fine."

Fluttershy smiled, "Okay, don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

A door closed and the house went silent, "As if I could move anyway." He said to himself. While he waited, Tony checked his gear for damage. By some miracle, none of it was damaged or missing other than the black cloak and hood. It wasn't long before a door opened, two sets of hoof beats accompanying it. The voices were too far off and too quiet for him to make anything out.

The door to his room opened, "Tony? Okay, you're awake. Tony, this is my friend, Twilight Sparkle. She says she might be able to help you."

A second pony/horse entered, this one purple with a short horn on its head: a unicorn. Wonderful, now Tony was sure he'd lost it. Twilight approached the injured human, eyes wide and mouth pulled back in a smile. She looked him up and down before offering her hoof, "Good afternoon, it's very nice to meet you, Tony."

Tony extended his own arm, "A pleasure to meet you."

This elicited a gasp from Twilight, "He can talk AND he has manners." She smiled a bit longer, examining his fingers as he released her hoof. Tony waited a moment before she seemed to snap out of some kind of trance. She shook her head and continued, "Fluttershy said you've been hurt, do you feel any excessive pain anywhere?"

Tony mentally scanned himself and decided he was sore, but only really hurt down his back. "My back hurts, not too bad, but it burns a little."

Twilight looked to her pegasus friend, "He got scratched by a Manticore eight times. I used all the herbs I could, but if I had given him too much more it might have put him into a coma." She responded, shyly.

Twilight's brow raised several inches, "Wow, um, Tony, could you roll onto your front so I can take a look at your back?"

Tony nodded and carefully rolled over. He felt the torn fabric across his back pulled aside and a sharp inhale from one of the ponies.

Twilight spoke first, "Ohhh that looks painful. You sure you can only feel a burn?"

"Yeah, how bad is it?"

She hesitated, "Well, they aren't very deep, but they will probably scar pretty ugly."

Tony mentally shrugged; at least there wouldn't be any lasting major damage. His new friends seemed to think otherwise, "I'm sorry, Tony. There isn't much I can do. We could try a hospital, but-"

Tony cut her off, "It's fine. I've had worse, have worse actually. My shot wound will scar worse than those will and it's not like I don't already have some. I think I'll look good with a couple marks, maybe my face will scar, too." He mused, while the ponies behind him remained silent. He turned to see them looking at him like he was crazy, which Tony was sure he was at this point.

"What do you mean 'maybe my face will scar too'? Do you want to have lines on your face for the rest of your life?"

Tony hesitated, "Uh, maybe? I mean if they don't scar that's great, but if they do, I won't complain."

Twilight gave him a strange look before a book floated from some saddlebags she wore across her back. Tony noticed her horn shone a shade of purple and an aura of the same color surrounded the book she held. She studied the book intently, flipping pages rapidly as she searched for whatever article she wanted. Tony read the cover of the book, 'Human Mythology and Legend: a Compilation of all Folklore on Humankind'. Apparently, humans were either presumed extinct or didn't exist here.

Twilight stopped, finding what she looked for. After a moment she voiced a question, "Tony, do you know any healing magic? Actually, a better question might be: what magic can you use?"

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Last I checked, humans can't use magic; of any kind."

Twilight's eyes widened again, "What!? No magic!? How do you even survive!? No pony can use magic where you're from?"

Tony shook his head, "Not so far as I know."

A feather and a piece of paper floated out of her bags, she looked at the paper as the feather scribbled something down; evidently, a quill and parchment. Tony realized that might be the magic she was talking about.

Fluttershy quietly got his attention, "Um, Tony, do you want something to eat? If you're hurt, it will be good to have some energy."

As if on cue, Tony's stomach rumbled. Fluttershy jumped, then giggled, "Ok, what would you like?"

Tony pondered, "I'm not sure, just bring me anything I guess, I'm not picky."

She nodded and left while Twilight found another question, "What's your diet usually like?"

Tony turned his attention to her, "Diet? Well, I try to eat healthy; lots of vitamins and minerals."

Twilight made another note, "What do you need to function properly from day to day?"

"Calcium, a little bit of iron, vitamin, A, B, and all the rest of them, protein, fiber." Tony listed as he thought back to his health lessons in school.

One item stuck out to Twilight, "How would you get protein? And what is it?"

"Protein is the material my muscle fibers are made of. It's probably in more than that, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I get it out of nuts and meat: peanuts, almonds, chicken, pork, beef..." Tony trailed off, Twilight looked scared and sick. "Are you okay, Twilight?"

She gulped, "Y-Yeah, I-I'm just fine."

Fluttershy returned with a small basket in her mouth. It held several apples, a loaf of bread, and a small salad, along with a few dandelions and flowers. Tony smiled at the food, thanking the butter yellow pegasus and trying an apple. He drew a knife and cut the apple in half before slicing it into smaller pieces. He didn't notice Twilight watching fearfully as she observed his sharp teeth cut through the fruit in his hands.

Twilight leaned towards Fluttershy, whispering something in her ear. Her ears flattened and she looked frightened for only a moment before addressing Tony, "Tony, do you eat meat?"

Tony looked up, "Yeah, why?" The ponies started to back slowly away, eyeing the knife in his hand. Tony made what now seemed to be an obvious connection, "Oh, sorry. I won't eat it here if it makes you feel better, and no, I would never consider hurting you or anyone else." He sheathed his knife to emphasize his sincerity.

Twilight didn't look too sure, "You sure?"

Tony nodded, "I swear."

The two stopped backing away but didn't come closer. After a moment, Twilight sighed, "I'm sorry, Tony. That was unfair of me."

Tony shook his head, speaking around a slice of bread, "It's fine, I can understand why you would be apprehensive when a creature you've never seen before pulls out a knife and tells you it's a carnivore."

Twilight nodded, "Thanks. I guess I deserved it for promising to try to make you better and then turning it into an interrogation session on your species."

Tony laughed for a moment before clutching his stomach. Fluttershy was by him in an instant, making sure he was alright. He explained that he had accidentally tensed a hurt muscle. His pegasus doctor relaxed and told him to do the same.

Tony finished eating while Twilight tried to figure out if she could help him. Mostly, this involved her asking questions about human anatomy. Tony, having tried to learn most of it in his health and Biology classes, was able to accurately answer most of her questions. She ran through her notes, pondering something deeply, before nodding.

"Based on this, I think I can heal you a little. I don't want to get too excited because I'm still kind of in the dark, but I should be able to fix something; is there any particular spot you hurt especially, or want healed faster that isn't too complex?"

Tony did a quick mental scan before coming to a decision, "Well, my face would be the easiest to fix, but my stomach hurts the worst and has me crippled. It's also the most complicated injury. Which would you feel more comfortable dealing with?"

Twilight didn't hesitate, "As much as I would like to heal your stomach, I'd feel more comfortable trying your face. It's simpler and I can't accidentally ruin something vital if I don't get it absolutely perfect."

Tony nodded, "Alright then. Fluttershy, can you take the gauze off for me?"

The pegasus gently peeled the thin bandage away and sat to the side expectantly. Twilight stepped forward and inspected the scratches. After a moment, she nodded and pulled back a little. Her horn glowed and Tony felt his skin crawl. He could feel the skin and tissue pulling themselves together and sealing the tears in them. It lasted only ten seconds, and was done. Twilight sat back and inspected her work.

She hummed, "It looks good. No scarring or redness. No obvious negative side effects, I think it worked."

Tony felt his face; the once bloody lines were gone; replaced with new skin. "Do you have a mirror I could use?"

Fluttershy nodded and brought over a tiny mirror, barely the size of Tony's spread hand. He examined the reflection that it gave. He was rather disgusted. The wounds had healed and left a clean spot on his face, everything else was caked in blood, dirt, and grass stains.

"That's nasty. Twilight, great work, you did well; but I really need a bath. Fluttershy is there a spot I could wash up in?"

Fluttershy hesitated, "Um, let me check."

Confused, Tony nodded. How would one not know if they had a bathroom?

She returned, "Hm, no, I don't think you would fit in my shower. Way too small for you."

Tony frowned. He felt dirty, feeling the grime under his fingernails and in the crevasses in his skin. He searched for another way to clean himself, "Is there anywhere I could at least rinse myself off?"

Fluttershy once again thought, lightly tapping her chin. Twilight gasped, "Hey! Fluttershy, you're a pegasus. Why don't you go get a rain cloud and rinse Tony down outside?"

Fluttershy smiled, "I really should have been the one to think of that. Help Tony downstairs while I get a cloud ready."

She disappeared with Tony staring blankly after her. Twilight coaxed him to the edge of the bed, gasping when he stood up straight. She was barely four feet tall, while he towered above her at over six feet. She made another note before letting him use her as a makeshift crutch. She walked with him to the stairs, where Tony cursed. After a long trip down the stairs, they were greeted by dozens of cages and animals. Tony took it in as he approached the door, noting one rabbit standing on a coffee table with his front paws crossed. Tony reached the door as Twilight's horn shone and the door handle did the same. It opened to reveal the edge of a forest and a small field full of animals.

Fluttershy was just returning, pushing a cloud before her. Tony stared as she stood on the cloud and ordered him under it. That was impossible, clouds weren't solid, they were water vapor. He hesitated until Twilight started to move. He followed to avoid falling. He got to his knees under the cloud and removed his weapons, armor, and clothing from his top half. There was no way he would go naked in front of a couple girls, even if they weren't his species and were probably part of his imagination.

"Okay, are you ready Tony?"

Tony nodded, "Alright, it's going to be cold."

Fluttershy stomped on the cloud, water falling to shower Tony. He flinched at the freezing water, but quickly grew accustomed to it and rubbed himself down. The pegasus above him didn't stop until there was no water left in the cloud to fall. Tony inhaled deeply, feeling refreshed.

A rainbow streak tackled Tony off his knees and into the dirt screaming something about 'run for your lives'. Tony cried out as he was hit and didn't move from his spot. Not that he could have with a cyan blue mass pinning him down. Twilight and Fluttershy were both speechless for a moment before simultaneously screaming at the new arrival to get off him. It was removed surrounded in a purple aura.

"Tony, Tony are you okay?" Fluttershy squeaked, sounding very motherly.

Tony rolled onto his side, holding his stomach and arching his back, "Ouch, ow, ow, ow, my back. I stretched my stomach and my back got dirt rubbed into it."

Fluttershy wheeled around, "Rainbow Dash, You hurt him! Be careful, he's already hurt!"

The new arrival, Rainbow Dash, responded with, "Sorry! What do you want me to do if I see a big, scary monster standing over one of my friends? I thought it was going to hurt you!"

Twilight interceded, "Thank you for being so quick to try and help, but you literally rubbed dirt into his back!"

Rainbow Dash snorted, tossing her rainbow mane, "So? I crash every day and I just shake it off, he needs to stop being a wuss and deal with it."

Fluttershy pulled the blue pegasus around Tony. The two sat behind him for a few seconds when Tony heard Rainbow say, "Oh."

Twilight sighed, "Here's what you can do to make it better, Rainbow. Go get us another rain cloud. Be quick about it."

Rainbow flew off in a prismatic blur. Fluttershy and Twilight helped him back to his knees just as Rainbow reappeared with the requested cloud. "Alright, here's the cloud. What did you need it for, again?"

Fluttershy guided the cloud over Tony and rinsed him again. He sighed as the dirt was once again washed out of his various cuts. When no more water fell, she glided back down to Tony and Rainbow destroyed the cloud with a kick.

Ton looked up to Rainbow, "Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

She looked surprised to hear him speak directly to her, "Oh, no problem. Sorry for tackling you, I just panicked."

"It's fine; just try to avoid that in the future, please. You hit pretty hard."

She laughed nervously, "Yeah, okay. I guess I'll see you around, huh?"

"Sure. See you later."

She sped off, trailing a rainbow. Twilight resumed her place as a crutch and Fluttershy did her best to help him as well. After making it thirty meters, into the house, up the stairs, and to his guest bed in a whopping eight minutes, he was beat. Tony crawled into bed and laid back, his knees bent and feet touching the floor at the end of the short bed. Fluttershy left and returned with his tattered clothes and weapons. As she entered, Twilight put a hoof to her lips, gesturing to a now sleeping Tony. Fluttershy nodded, draping his things over a chair. They gently rolled him onto his side just long enough to cover his back again and taped a small squared of bandage over his entry wound. The two left as quietly as they could, heading downstairs to talk about what to do with the injured human.


	4. Chapter 4

Catherine's frantic voice filled Sam's head as he came to. She sounded far off and somewhat staticky, though that quickly ended as he regained full consciousness.

He shook his head quickly, working to banish the lethargy to a distant corner of his mind. He looked around at the pod he was in, all the display screens were shattered, save one, which read: ERROR. "What happened?"

Catherine sounded relieved, "Our main chute broke and the backup couldn't slow us down nearly enough, so I fired the brake rockets early to counter it. We still came in way too fast, and you were knocked unconscious."

"How long?"

"Twelve minutes, your pulse dropped right before you came to, and I panicked a little."

Sam's lip twitched upward, "Catherine-" she cut him off.

"Please, call me Cat."

Sam gave a quizzical look, "Why?"

"It's just easier, and it gives me a sense of having a friend." She said, sounding shy.

Sam's eyebrows rose slightly, he had forgotten that as a copy of a human mind, his new AI would have social needs, "Alright then, Cat, has my armor suffered any damage?"

"Nothing at all. The armor itself is intact, all systems are green, though some are offline, and the gel layer took most of the shock out of the fall. No damage at all, you have just witnessed nothing short of a miracle, my friend." She paused, "I don't suppose you would want to get out and move around?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Sam said as he smashed the manual release indicators. Four lights shattered under his fist. And nothing happened. "What?" Sam said, irritated.

"The door must be jammed shut, give it a push." Sam did and the door gave slightly with a loud release of compressed air, just enough to poke his fingers through to his right side.

"Well, wonderful." Cat said, sounding defeated.

Sam just twisted his body and stuck both hands out of the small crack between the door and the pod. He then gripped and pulled his hands apart, as hard as he could. Metal squeaked and glass shattered as Sam literally tore his way out of the pod, the last functional screen winking off and tearing in half. He opened a space wide enough for him to exit through then drew his pistol and let it ease out before him. He slid out of the pod and looked back to see what had been obstructing the door. A boulder had fallen and jammed itself between the ground and the pod door, blocking the exit. The door itself had been bent around the huge rock, roughly curving away.

Cat had stayed silent until now, "Sam, that's bulletproof glass and steel, and you just bent it like plastic using nothing but your hands."

"The suit helped." He replied simply.

"Be that as it may, I've been programmed with information on Spartan abilities but that blew my mind, metaphorically speaking of course."

Sam nodded, he had expected her to be programmed with knowledge on his skills but had never had an AI unit before, so he wouldn't know what to expect. He turned away from the mangled pod, shaking his head slightly as he looked around warily. He leaned in to grab his rifle, ammunition, and grenades. Completely full on everything, he stepped away from the vehicle and looked around.

It was a beautiful landscape, the sun shining high in the brilliant blue sky. Fluffy white clouds floated along on a lazy breeze, the trees and foliage swaying with it slightly. Sam only gave it a glance before turning his attention to the forest in front of him.

Cat seemed to shake herself, "Let's get moving, live maps are down, it's like the satellites can't see us." Most human colonies used satellite images or electromagnetic scans to create live maps of the entire planet from anywhere and everywhere at all times. However, Sam's armor wasn't getting a signal from anything. Comms system, maps, even civilian radio; all of them silent.

Sam sighed in frustration, "I hate being lost."

"You and me both Spartan."

Sam placed his pistol in its respective spot, drawing his battle rifle instead. He inhaled and began walking, looking for some form of life, intelligent or not. He hadn't gone more than seven miles when he came to a small clearing. He looked around it, noticing a small patch of trampled grass on the far side from him. His curiosity got the better of him, and he went to investigate.

It looked relatively old, by tracking standards. The grass had been flattened here; something heavy had spent several hours doing... something. There were patches of dried blood mixed in with the green. It had been eating? More likely bleeding. It had moved, into the tree just behind it, it looked like, and fallen back down a few feet away. There had been a fight, slightly fresher bloody spots littering the ground. A massive animal, a cat of some kind judging by the paw prints. It had fought, and taken off for some reason. Sam noticed a few human footprints interspersed between the paw prints. There was a deep depression in the ground, the man had been thrown down hard here, then dragged away by something with small, flat, circular feet. Sam followed the direction with his eyes, noticing a distinct line in the sky. The clouds just stopped, just cut off; some of them right in half at a specific border in the sky.

"That's not something you see every day." Cat noted sarcastically. It went right over Sam's head.

"Right. If anything's doing something weird, it's in that direction. Do you think it's the artifact?"

"I don't know, I'd like to think so. It's the only lead we've got; I think we have to take it."

Sam nodded, starting forward again. He vaguely followed the trail of whatever had drug the body through the forest as it headed in the same basic direction. There came a point where he noticed new tracks, fresh tracks. Crouching to get a better look, he identified them as wolves: big ones, really big ones. They were only a couple minutes old; he hoped he wouldn't have to waste any ammo on a bunch of stupid dogs. He moved on.

He was surprised at how far the trail went. The body had been pulled through nearly three miles of dirt before suddenly disappearing for a time. It reappeared a mile later, just before Sam could make out a break in the trees.

He crept forward, low to the ground. There was a sizable hill at the end of a dirt path with... Sam was taken off guard, windows stuck out of a bushy mass in several places. He paused, stared, and laughed. The idea was so absurd, that he just happened across a bush with windows sticking out of it in the middle of a completely random forest. He calmed himself just as Cat asked, "What is that supposed to be?"

"No idea. Windows in a bush, not something you see very often, is it?"

"True that. Should we investigate?"

Sam thought about it for a moment "Is there anyone nearby?"

Cat ran a scan of their surroundings, "There is one human life signature, and the rest is wildlife. They, whoever they are, are either inside or around the hill and sleeping or unconscious according to their heart rate."

Sam weighed his options, but was interrupted. A growl sounded behind him. He turned to see two bright yellow eyes glaring at him from the cover of a bush. He turned and aimed his rifle between them. They disappeared, and then two more sets appeared to either side of him. He stood straight as six sets of eyes tried to stare him down. He backed away, slowly trying to avoid a fight. He was aware of where he was going, but was confident the sleeping person wouldn't wake.

They emerged from the trees, revealing their size. They were all roughly three feet tall to their shoulders, and made of wood. Whoever had made them was either running low on materials or desperate for camouflage.

They followed him, forcing him back while he debated whether to waste precious ammo and risk waking the civilian; or put his weapon away and take them on with his hands. He decided to go with option number two.

He slung his gun across his back and put his fists up in a defensive position. All at once, the wolves jumped at him, howling and snarling.

Sam grabbed the first creature out of the air and swung it like a bat, knocking the others away. He held it by the throat and tore its head off. Wood splintered and squeaked as he dropped the body and threw the separate head at another, the head and the leg it hit splintering on impact. The injured wolf stood over its destroyed leg for a second before the limb pulled itself back together. It resumed a fighting stance, ready again.

Sam waited for another attack; they all tried to rush him again. He grabbed two and crushed their heads in his hands, dropping them, limp, to the ground. The last three circled him, gauging, calculating. One of them tried to attack from behind. Sam put his fists together, spinning around. He brought them both down as hard as he could, catching the animal in the middle of its back. He cut it in half with the punch, and stomped in its head to finish it.

The last two were a little more cautious, approaching slowly. Sam crouched and dove for one, grabbing it and throwing it into the other. He jumped to the tangled bodies and hoisted them off the ground. He held them above his head before throwing them onto the ground. One practically exploded while the other lost a couple legs. It tried to pull itself back together, but Sam crushed its throat before it could. He looked at his handiwork, smacking himself for suck a sloppy job getting here and fighting the beasts.

"Cat, what were they?"

"I don't know. I ran tech scans through the whole fight, but came up empty every time. They weren't alive, but they weren't machines either."

Sam was slightly troubled by this, but found something else needed his attention just then. There were two small, horse figures standing in the doorway to the window house. They wore matching faces of shock, staring him up and down.

After taking two and a half seconds to process that there were two horses that looked scared of him up the path, legitimate emotion on their faces, he made a decision. "Time to leave." He muttered as he started for the forest again. A purple aura materialized around him, his shields failed and several other systems shut down. He was unwillingly held where he was, the two figures walked around him. One, a purple thing with a glowing horn sticking out of its forehead, looked ecstatic and happy. The other, a butter yellow thing with wings folded against its back, looked terrified as it half hid behind a solid wall of pink hair.

The purple one spoke, "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. How do you do?"

Sam stopped at this, "Cat, what is this? Why can't I move?"

Cat was audibly frustrated, "I don't know! It's acting like a massive electromagnetic field or something like one. Half of your suits systems have crashed, including life support, shields, and friend or foe recognition. Everything around you just stopped!"

Sam struggled to no avail, the myths in front of him jumping back. He decided there wasn't another option, he drew his pistol, "Release me or I shoot your horn off."

They both stared wide eyed when he spoke so threateningly, but instead of letting him go, his weapon jerked in his grip. He held on with iron hands and kept his aim. He fired one round, it wasn't really meant to go anywhere, it was a warning.

The pegasus screamed and disappeared into the bushes; the unicorn jumped and released him just long enough for him to escape. They didn't give chase.

Sam slowed down two miles from the small house, running scenarios through his head. Nothing made sense, everything was all wrong, and this definitely wasn't Harmony. Cat was silent, likely thinking something along the same lines. Sam voiced both of their thoughts in five words: "What the hell was that?"

* * *

**A/N**

**Wow, that took way longer than it should have. Sorry for the long wait, I'll try not to make a habit of it. Thank you for the two favorites! I forgot to mention earlier, remember to R&R. Let me know what you think and send me any ideas you think might work. I'm currently throwing four ideas around, including this one. If you want me to set one up, let me know and I'll get to work. Sorry for jumping around so randomly in all of twelve sentences, I want to get back to writing! I finally found some motivation! Thanks again, see you in a few day! I think. I hope...**


	5. Chapter 5

Tony woke to a sharp crack. He recognized that sound; gunfire. But how? These ponies clearly had no idea what a firearm was, who had a gun?  
He struggled up, limping to the window. He saw Twilight and Fluttershy fleeing from a huge, dark...something. It looked vaguely human, but was covered in metal and moved far to fast to be living. He stood at the window, taking pains to keep his balance. His caretakers ran for the door, Tony heard it slam closed and went for the exit to his room. He heard frantic whispering as he slid, sitting and slowly, down the stairs, one at a time. He reached a point where he could see into the room below and stopped, "What was it?"  
Their heads snapped up. Fluttershy spoke worriedly, "Tony, what are you doing up? You need your rest."  
Tony ignored her question,"What was it?"  
Twilight spoke, "I don't know. I tried to talk to it, but it took off after threatening us."  
Tony blinked, tiredly, "Did it hurt you?"  
Fluttershy spoke before Twilight could, "No, but it tried."  
Twilight jumped in, "It had this... Thing, that made a really loud noise and made what ever it pointed at kind of, well, pop. It hit the ground and the dirt next to me jumped up."  
Tony couldn't shake his bad feeling, "Twilight, come here."  
"What is it? What do you need?"  
"I need a crutch to get outside. If what you described is what I think it is, we might have a problem." He reached for her and gestured towards himself.  
She looked troubled, but supported him outside to the spot she'd been standing. Tony sat and found the disturbed patch of ground. He searched with his fingers for a few seconds before finding what he really hadn't wanted to but knew he would. He lifted the small shard of metal out of the grass, examining it.  
Twilight leaned in, "What is it?"  
"I believe that is a bullet shard."  
"Bullet?"  
"Yep, what you saw the metal thing holding is called a gun. It uses small amounts of explosive powder to launch a projectile at a target."  
Recognition dawned in her eyes, "So, it's like a catapult that uses an explosion instead of a counterweight?"  
Tony shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. Except that it's handheld and much higher powered." He was surprised she had made that kind of connection.  
"And that's what hurt you?"  
"Yes, but this is either most of the round, or it was a huge caliber." He muttered, musing. He shook his head at the questioning look Twilight was giving him.  
Twilight looked apprehensive, "So, then, whatever it was tried to kill me?"  
Tony shook his head, "Hard to say. It looks like it might have, but I can't figure out why it would just run off without taking another shot if it really wanted you dead."  
Fluttershy looked upset, "I hate that some creatures kill others. I know that they have to eat, but sometimes they're just cruel. That's why I saved you Tony; because that manticore wasn't really trying, he was playing with you. Well, that and I'd never seen anything like you before."  
That was nice to know, he'd have to pay the thing a visit. Maybe. "You said it threatened you, what did it say?"  
Twilight shrugged, "It said 'Release me, or I shoot your horn off.'"  
The situation became a little clearer to the young Assassin, "Did you trap it? Did you try to stop it from leaving?" He started to sound irritated.  
She shook her head, worried at his tone, "No, not at all."  
"Did you touch it in anyway?"  
She shrugged, "Well, not physically."  
Tony suddenly understood, "Twilight, what did you do when the thing showed up?" He asked as he sighed.  
"Nothing! I mean I held it to stop it from moving too much so I could look at it, but nothing other than that!"  
"Twilight, did you ever consider that it might have done what it did because you were stopping it from leaving? I don't think it wanted to kill you, I think it was just trying to leave; and you were preventing it."  
She realized what she had done, and lowered her head, "I never considered that." She whispered, embarrassed.  
Tony patted her back, "It's alright, Twilight, just a simple mistake. However, I don't think it was trying to hurt you. It was probably just trying to get you to let go."  
Fluttershy looked to the tree line, "Oh, that poor thing. It must have been terrified."  
Tony struggled to his knees, "Well, if it comes back, we can apologize and move on. If not, I just hope it doesn't turn that weapon on innocent ponies."  
He struggled back inside, back to his bed. He propped himself up, thinking about the strange machine/man and its deadly weapon. What would happen if the gun was turned on the locals? Tony was more than prepared to defend himself, but he was injured and unready to defend innocents. He sighed; never a dull moment.  
Fluttershy noticed his mood, "It's okay, Tony. I'm sure it will all turn out fine."  
Tony gave a half-hearted laugh, "Well, at least one of us is looking up. Thanks, Fluttershy."  
She smiled brightly, "Are you getting hungry again? I can make you a sandwich or something."  
Tony nodded, "That sounds great, thank you."  
She returned with a basket of fruit, flowers, bread, and cheese. Tony went for the cheese first, eagerly breaking a piece off and downing it with a slice of bread. He smiled, it felt good to have something else in his stomach. He quickly finished the rest of the basket, excluding the flowers, of course. Fluttershy placed the basket by the door and laid him back down. She told him not to stand up unless the house tried to burn itself down. He made no promises, but relaxed.  
Fluttershy left to prepare a new batch of painkillers, having noticed Tony's overly cautious movement. This is how it would be for the next few days, painkillers and sleep. He would probably get bored, but she had ways of fixing that; games and little jobs he could do sitting up. When the painkillers were ready, the little pegasus went back upstairs; Tony was drifting to sleep, so she left them on the nightstand for when he woke up.

* * *

Sam crept back to the infamous bush house. Both entities were gone, having fled somewhere when he'd taken off. Cat told him that the human was awake and moving, albeit slowly. The door to the home opened, the unicorn that had trapped him stepping out alongside a tall, bipedal creature. It was definitely human, and male by the looks of his hair and facial structure. His clothes were essentially torn, bloody rags, clinging to his body to stay out of the dirt. He sat in the grass where the unicorn stopped him, examining the ground with his eyes and fingers. He picked something up and began to speak. Sam increased his outward audio systems' sensitivity.  
"... Of a counterweight?"  
"Yeah, I guess. Except that it's handheld and much higher powered."  
"And that's what hurt you?"  
"Yes, but..." The boy trailed off, Sam's audio systems not nearly strong enough to pick it out of the other noises on the breeze.  
Apparently, the new species hadn't heard of an M6 Magnum before. As Sam listened, he found that none of the beings knew what he was. Insurrectionists wouldn't leave that information out, not even to recruits. Spartans were a force you didn't stand and fight against, you just ran. Sam watched the three figures go back inside and went through his options.  
He could leave and keep searching for his objective, or, he could confront the occupants of the house and get assistance. He might even stumble upon some new intel. He tossed the ideas around his head, working through them. Eventually, he decided that, being lost, disoriented, and clueless, he needed help. He wouldn't do it happily though.  
The Spartans were not a social group, many of them borderline sociopaths. Sam was no exception, he hated dealing with people; he'd rather just give and receive orders with them. It was a lonely existence sometimes, but it was better than awkward or uncomfortable. Besides, he was used to it by now.  
He crept from the underbrush, not making a sound. The occupants if the house didn't notice him. He snuck up to the house, stopping at the door. He used his audio systems again, pushing them to their limits. He heard a mass of activity inside, shuffling feet and scuttling insects. A conversation came into focus, he concentrated to hear it through the background noise.  
"...worried about him. He can barely walk and I don't know if he'll pull through all the way."  
A new voice answered the first, "I know. I wish I could help, but healing his face was hard enough; there's no way I could possibly get his stomach right, even his back is questionable at best."  
A sigh, "I just hope he heals enough at all. He's not happy being cooped up inside, I can see it in his eyes. The machine from earlier didn't do any good for him either."  
"I really wish I'd been thinking. I wouldn't have grabbed it or tried to take its, uh, gun. That's the word right? I wonder if it could have helped us, it seemed smart for a mass of inanimate material."  
Sam assumed they were talking about him. Apparently, the boy was hurt, badly. Sam knew he could help, but was reluctant to reveal himself. He pulled out a tiny canister of bio-foam. He thought for a moment before replacing the canister and making for the woods again.

* * *

Sam snuck up to the door. The unicorn had left shortly after Sam had returned to the trees. The yellow thing hadn't left; evidently, it lived there. He gripped the handle, gently turning it. The door creaked open, but nothing inside moved.  
The room had scattered cages and birdhouses hanging on the walls and ceiling. Sam took it all in, memorizing the layout of the home. He searched the bottom floor, finding nothing of interest; a small kitchen and a living room. He moved to the stairs, stopping at the bottom.  
"Cat, will they hold me?" He whispered, despite his external sound system being off.  
"They should, they're carved directly into the home itself."  
Sam tested the first two, bouncing lightly. They held, not even creaking. He made it to the top, listening intently.  
No sound reached his unnaturally sensitive ears, so he proceeded.  
The first room appeared to be a guest room, the bed silent and the room sparsely decorated. Then, he noticed a small bump in the sheets. It was the pegasus, sleeping soundly and nearly silently; her pink mane draped over her smiling face. He backed out quickly, searching for the human. The second room was mostly empty, but the third gave him up.  
The boy was lying on a bed far too small for him, his legs bent at the knee and feet touching the floor. He lay fitfully, trying to move in his sleep, but unable to do so because of his injuries.  
Sam stood at the bedside, towering over the sleeping boy. He reached down and, as gently as he could, wrapped a hand over the boy's mouth.  
He woke immediately, struggling to get free; he put up a good fight, but was no match for Sam. He stopped after a few seconds, holding his side.  
"I want to help you, but I need questions answered first. Understand?" Sam whispered.  
A nod. "I'm going to let go now, if you scream, I'll give you another bruise to nurse for the next couple of weeks." Another affirmative.  
Sam let go, the boy sat still and silently. "What's your name, kid?"  
"Tony." He whispered. "What are you and what do you want?"  
"I want to help, but, I need answers before I can. Where am I?"  
"Fluttershy's cottage."  
Sam mentally shook his head, teenage sarcasm, "What planet?"  
Tony shook his head, "I have no idea. I woke up two days ago, bleeding, crippled, and lost."  
"How did you get here?"  
"I don't know. I woke up right here yesterday."  
"What do you know? Tell me everything you know about this place."  
"It's inhabited by pegasus and unicorns. As far as I know I'm the only one of my kind here. This society is very low-tech and magic dependent."  
Sam was skeptical, "Magic?"  
"That's what they call it and I can't find another way to explain the things the unicorns can do."  
Maybe they weren't as technologically underdeveloped as the kid thought. "Is that it?"  
"They're all herbivores and very nature-friendly. That's all I know."  
Sam was disappointed with the tiny amount of information the kid had, but had made a promise. It would be best to keep it, in case this kid did have something to do with the Insurrectionists. He would spread the word, keep them alert and watchful, "I understand you're injured." He nodded. "Alright, Tony, I've got some medical magic to heal you a bit faster, do you want some?"  
Tony looked suspicious, "What's the catch?"  
Sam shrugged, "You gave me info, I'm giving you what little I can in return."  
Tony nodded, pulling the cloth away from his shot wound. Sam had Cat scan it while he readied the Bio-foam. He located the optimal spot to fill the void, and set the nozzle there. He emptied the tiny canister into Tony's stomach.  
"It won't heal you any faster, but it will help you walk on it and prevent you from making it any worse."  
Tony nodded, "Thanks."  
Sam nodded, "Sorry."  
Just as the boy managed to look confused, Sam hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious. He stood and left, taking pains not to wake the sleeping occupant of the first hall room. He made it to the door, slipping through it and into the night. He still had no idea where he was, but at least he knew it wasn't Harmony.


End file.
